IN terms of job applications received there has never been a larger number of professional footballers out there who want to play for Tranmere Rovers.

IN terms of job applications received there has never been a larger number of professional footballers out there who want to play for Tranmere Rovers.

At the last count around 120 faxes from agents touting players had crossed the desk of Tranmere chief scout Dave Philpotts since the hiring season began a few months ago for the forthcoming Division Two campaign.

In all probability, 119 will be disappointed for the time being at least because Tranmere's current require-ment is limited to one player: a striker.

The stark figures fit in with the broader picture of the game outside the Premiership in which the great majority of clubs are making making deep cuts in player costs for the second season in succession.

Obliged to choose between austerity or oblivion when the loss of ITV Digital's millions hit them in the spring of last year, clubs trimmed squad sizes and reined in players' salary levels that were running out of control.

As Philpotts observes, the days when an average player could finish his contract with one club and choose between two or three suitors for the next, purely on the basis of his record and reputation, are over. Now they are being asked to prove themselves.

Philpotts, Tranmere's chief scout since 1997, said: "In the past those players with what you could call credentials could get fixed up quickly when they left a club.

"Now even well-established players are being asked to go on trial with a new club before they are offered anything. It happened with two of our former players this summer. Stuart Barlow went on trial at Stockport and Andy Parkinson got himself fixed up with Sheffield United.

"When clubs are cutting back they have to be more certain than ever that the players they take on will fit into their squads.

"Trials help a club to make sure they get what they want for their money. You can see as many references about the character of players as you like but until you get them into your own club it's difficult to know if they are going to be right for you."

Philpotts believes players have been forced to rethink their attitudes in the last 18 months because the balance of power in contract negotiations has swung back in favour of the clubs.

He said: "Most players are accepting it and taking the trials. It's the biggest change to have taken place in the game at this level for many years and I think it's for the general good of the game that the clubs have gained greater control of the transfer market."

Another change may be on the way. Alongside the faxes from agents, Philpotts is beginning to receive letters direct from players asking for work.

Philpotts said: "Some of them are realising they can do the agent's job themselves. The experienced players don't really have need of one because they know how things work. It's the players who have to pay these agents, not the clubs and it can be expensive for them.

"The majority are still employing agents but the trend of working without them is growing, at this level at least."

Philpotts, 49, can look back on more than 30 years in the game. As a centre-half he played just over 200 games for Tranmere during two spells in the mid-70s and '80s. He worked as a coach, assistant manager and manager at Wigan Athletic and a variety of roles at Stockport County.

it is as a man with a deep reservoir of knowledge and experience who offers this personal opinion on the game's present state outside the distorted world of the Premiership.

Philpotts said: "I believe football has its sanity back. Things had to change because they had got out of hand in the amount of money players were asking for and getting out of the clubs.

"It's no surprise so many clubs got into financial difficulties.

"Hopefully if the most troubled clubs can come through their crisis then I think the game at this level can get back on its feet in another 18 months.

"But it's important the clubs hold the line they are taking now with more realistic wage levels.

"The game had run away with itself. The divide between players earnings and those of regular supporters who paid to watch them was becoming a problem.

"You have to be realistic and remember that the team you put out on the pitch must give value back to the supporters."